Will resurgent Roos hop all over the Eagles?

IT'S a fickle business, football. At the end of round three this year, Carlton and its coach, Brett Ratten, were flying. Three wins on the trot, including a 10-goal demolition job on Collingwood, had Blues' fans licking their lips. The Pies, on the other hand, had lost two of their first three and new coach Nathan Buckley was having questions asked of him.

It was at that time that Magpie president Eddie McGuire had a crack at Mick Malthouse, suggesting the Collingwood premiership coach of 2010 was not supporting his former apprentice.

A few days later, McGuire offered the peace pipe to Malthouse, as he always does. Then a few weeks later, as the Carlton wheels started to wobble, McGuire suggested that his mate Malthouse would be a good fit for the Carlton coaching job. Ah yes! Side by side, they stick together?

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Since the round-three loss, the Pies have not lost a game. You have to admire the resilience and determination of the new Collingwood coach. He has lost quality players to long-term injuries, but has been able to replace them and keep the team winning.

The Pies aren't winning by the margins of last year, but that's to be expected with the loss of key personnel. So far this year the Pies have used 36 players. Other than the two expansion teams, that is more than any other club. They have also introduced seven debutants - only Geelong has more (eight).

Big figures... power forwards have accounted for a lion's share of the goals this season.

It speaks volumes for the Collingwood coaching staff that they are able to develop young players so quickly and so thoroughly. The recruiters, too, have to be commended.

The common thread with all the Collingwood newcomers is that they are taught that performing the ''pressure acts'' is an absolute must. Last weekend, Jamie Elliott put on 15 tackles against Fremantle. It was an extraordinary work-rate, and one that warmed the heart of his coach.

While Buckley will be pleased with the 10-game winning streak, he knows there has to be improvement if a premiership is to be won. One of the coach's real concerns would be the output of his two power forwards, Travis Cloke and Chris Dawes.

Recent history tells us that in-form, big forwards are a key to winning flags. Tom Hawkins led the way last year on grand final day. When Collingwood won in 2010, Cloke and Dawes stood up.

In 2008, it was Lance Franklin and Jarryd Roughead's big bodies that set the Hawks up. When the Brisbane Lions did the ''three-peat'' a decade ago, it played through the might of Alastair Lynch and Jonathan Brown.

This year, the Pies are down on scoring output. Last year, their average score was 112 points a game. This year it's 100. There are seven teams, led by Hawthorn and West Coast, that are averaging higher scores than Collingwood. Some teams, such as Gold Coast, the Western Bulldogs and Melbourne, now that Mitch Clark is injured, don't have anyone of substance to play through up forward. And so they struggle. West Coast has an abundance of bigs (Jack Darling, Quinten Lynch, Josh Kennedy, Dean Cox and Nic Naitanui) and thrives on their talents.

Over the past two grand finals, Collingwood played three big blokes up forward - Cloke, Dawes and Leigh Brown. Brown's role was to give Darren Jolly some ruck support, but he predominantly played forward and netted 21 goals in 2010 and 23 in 2011. They were valuable contributions. Now the Pies have two key forwards - Cloke and Dawes - and Dawes has been asked to make a contribution in the ruck.

By his own admission, Dawes is down on form. When he played in the premiership in 2010 it was just his 30th game. He played 20 games that season and averaged 1.5 goals a game. This year, he has kicked just seven goals from his 12 games. Over the past three seasons, Dawes' disposal numbers have stayed the same. With Brown retiring, he needed to step up. So far, he hasn't.

Cloke's numbers are just down on last year. Experience is enabling him to pick up some ''cheapies'', but the bold presence of the past is yet to be seen on a consistent basis. Time for Cloke to concentrate on his football, forget about TV appearances and either sign a new contract at Collingwood or shut up until the season is over.

A look at the ''pairs'' of power forwards shows that Hawthorn leads the way with 70 goals. Taylor Walker and Kurt Tippett, of the Crows, have 66, the Geelong pair of James Podsiadly and Hawkins have netted 53, as have Nick Riewoldt and Justin Koschitzke at St Kilda. Coming in at 12th place, with 38 goals, is the Collingwood pair of Cloke and Dawes. It's a position they will be keen to improve on.

Last year, Carlton averaged 103 points a game to be the fourth highest-scoring team. The Blues did it with the medium-sized Andrew Walker and two smalls, Eddie Betts and Jeff Garlett. But you can't sustain that. A quality big target (two preferably) is required, and the Blues just don't have that. They have had to compromise, with ruckmen Shaun Hampson and Matthew Kreuzer going forward, as Jarrad Waite just doesn't play enough. This year they are ranked 11th for scoring. It's not hard to guess what sort of players will be No. 1 on the recruiting list for 2013.

17 comments so far

Wallsy would know, just recently saw replay of 1970 grand final, some great efforts by him, especially after half time. And the 1972 grand final when he had the joy of playing on Rex Hunt

Commenter

ian sharp

Location

alice springs

Date and time

July 06, 2012, 5:37AM

Kosi a power forward? Your joking aren't you?

Commenter

Wal

Date and time

July 06, 2012, 7:37AM

Walls makes a good point this time. Not an admirer of the great pontificator, but the stats of the forward combinations is quite interesting. Whilst the output of Cloke & Dawes in other areas is quite respectable, Pies will definitely need to develop some sort of (GF) winning strategy of unique character if the two forwards can't dramatically improve their (scoring) output

Commenter

Steelbreese

Date and time

July 06, 2012, 8:38AM

What was that article about?? Was it about Collingwood, Carlton or power forwards?? Maybe just trying to bag Colingwoods forward line? Things have changed a little in footy Robert, you no longer have to just kick it to the forwards, by the way Tom Hawkins had one good game last year and despite having the 2 best forwards going around Hawthorn don't really look the goods this year. I would say 3 quality mid fielders are what a team really needs, hence Carlton being so craptastic this year.I'm left feeling confused Robert, as usual whenever you begin to ramble on about football.

Commenter

FWOZ

Location

Saints

Date and time

July 06, 2012, 8:41AM

FWOZ.You seem like a jilted Pies fan. Gee the GF last year was good. The T-Hawk was brilliant against the Hawks in the first final last year too, so he actually had x2 good games thank-you. Pods (a power forward...) did the bulk for the year though. T-Hawk also has x2 B.O.G's up his sleeve this year to add to record. Go T-Hawk, Go!

Commenter

Jammy Bertle

Location

Simmonds

Date and time

July 06, 2012, 2:41PM

FOWZ. They key to 'key forwards' is structure and stretching a defence. If there is no direct tall target (or better yet, two) then teams often have no plan when going forward. Half forwards, pockets and wingman can read plays and select better postion when there is a structure to attack. Yes, oppositions can often become highly conscious of this too, but it does often take all the defence focus off other forwards; which in turn is a positive. The days of the 100+ goal kicker are gone, but large key forwards (who always require a quality large key backman) still serve a proper purpose in any decent team. Hawthorn's problem is that Lance Franklin doesn't play as a tall target. He prefers to play as a doubling back, loose ball pocket type- this is where they fall down structually. The Cats have got it good with Hawkins and Pods. A leading forward and a muscling type. The Pies are good with Cloke and Dawes (note: Dawes still needs to be covered despite poor form). The Eagles and Crows also have quality big targets. They are still a must in any decent forward 50.

Commenter

Dermott

Location

Hawthorn

Date and time

July 06, 2012, 4:00PM

Why don't Carlton offer Cloke a truck full of money?

Commenter

pies

Date and time

July 06, 2012, 8:55AM

Because he isn't worth it,

Commenter

Toughnup

Date and time

July 06, 2012, 12:51PM

hahahahaha. thats hilarious. why pay one overrated guy 1 million when you could get two premiums for 500k each or poach 3 GWS/GC potentials for 300k each.

Commenter

derek

Location

lygon street

Date and time

July 06, 2012, 2:32PM

Actually I thought this was a pretty good article. It sums up the reason Carlton are struggling, they don't that additional forward to back up Waite.

The Lions comparison is highly insightful. Prior to Mal Michaels arrival at full back, Alistair Lynch would often be moved from full forward to full back to help out Leppistch. The lions struggled with teams like North Melb who had Carey and McKernan playing up front.

When Mal Michaels arrived, it allowed the Lions the luxury of leaving Lynch up forward with Brown... once that happened they went from a 4-5th ranked team to premiers.

So I think Walsy is spot on. I would probably add you need a couple of big back men to deal with the opponents' power forwards as well :-)